The present invention relates generally to telecommunication services and the like, and more particularly, concerns a network-based method and system for provisioning of such services and equipment.
It is today commonplace for telecommunication services and equipment to be ordered on a network, whether online or at a service center and whether by a consumer directly or through a service agent. Moreover, it is not uncommon for the same network to handle the services and equipment of multiple telecommunication providers, completing the necessary communications to provide a consumer with the specific services and equipment he desires.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the architecture of a typical, existing telecommunication provisioning network 10. Although the network is illustrated as having three server nodes for convenience of description, it is not uncommon for a network to have many more. Moreover, although a server node is often thought of as a separate computer, it is actually a computer program that offers specific services to a client program. Thus, those skilled in the art will appreciate multiple server nodes may run on a single high speed computer. When the term “server”, it will be understood not to refer to separate computer, unless otherwise stated.
Each server node has a gateway providing access to the node, a scheduler which schedules tasks to be performed, and a workflow processor which actually performs those tasks in an order and at a time controlled by the scheduler. It should be kept in mind that telecommunication provisioning will typically require completion of several processes or workflows for any single telecommunication provisioning procedure and that those workflows must often be performed in a specific order. That is, certain workflows must be completed before others can be undertaken.
For purposes of example, it will be assumed that land line service is being ordered by or on behalf of a customer. When an order is initiated basic information is obtained from about the customer, including where he lives, after which provisioning begins. An Order Request 12 is received by the gateway and an auto-response 14 is sent by the gateway to the customer. The first process, workflow 1 is assigned to the first available server node, in this case, node 2. Workflow 1 might for example be an inquiry to the telecommunications provider whether wire-line service is available to this customer. The task is placed in the scheduler and, typically after some delay, the communication to the telecommunication provider's database is made, a response is received, and the customer's order is updated with the results. With workflow 1 completed, workflow 2 may be undertaken and it is assigned to the next available server node, in this case node 3, where the scheduler schedules a process, workflow 2. This process may, for example be an inquiry regarding whether fiber service is available to this customer. The process is cued by the scheduler in server node 3 and, after some delay, the workflow processor in server node 3 accesses the appropriate database of the telecommunication service provider, receives a response, and the customer's order is updated.
At this point, it becomes possible to undertake workflow 3, which may for example be an inquiry for the telecommunication service provider's wire-line equipment catalog, to permit selection of appropriate equipment. This task is assigned to the next available server node, in this case node 1, for scheduling. After some delay, the workflow processor completes workflow 3, the requested information is received, and the customer's order is updated.
As a practical matter, the customer's order is maintained in a separate database. Each communication with the telecommunication service provider involves a delay in accessing the order database, a delay before a workflow is undertaken, a delay in awaiting the completion of the workflow, and a delay in storing the results of a workflow in the order database. When a customer has already placed an order that it is merely being fulfilled on his behalf, such delays are not of concern. However, if the customer is placing an order in real time, that is, he is awaiting its completion, the accumulated delays represent a considerable inconvenience or annoyance to the customer and become unacceptable.
There a need therefore exists in the prior art to substantially reduce the delay encountered in provisioning telecommunications services and equipment via a network.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the delay in provisioning telecommunication services and equipment via a network can be reduced significantly by performing substantially all of the provisioning processes sequentially on a single server. That is, through the counterintuitive approach of using sequential processing on a single server rather than parallel processing on a plurality of servers, the present invention reduces the time required to provision telecommunication services and equipment.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, telecommunication services and equipment are provisioned through a network by classifying the orders to be provisioned as two types. When the order is of a first type, the provisioning processes are performed on a set of servers (shared), and when the order is of a second type, substantially all of the provisioning processes are performed on a single server.